The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Satellite television has become increasingly popular due to the wide variety of content and the quality of content available. A satellite television system typically includes a set top box that is used to receive the satellite signals and decode the satellite signals for use on a television. The set top box typically has a memory associated therewith. The memory may include a digital video recorder or the like as well as the operating code for the set top box.
Satellite television systems typically broadcast content to a number of users simultaneously in a system. Satellite television systems also offer subscription or pay-per-view access to broadcast content. Access is provided using signals broadcast from the satellite. Once access is provided the user can access the particular content. The broadcasting of a large selection of channels and pay-per-view programs uses a considerable amount of satellite resources.
Content providers are increasingly trying to determine additional ways to provide content to users. Some content may be desired by a small number of customers. In such a case using valuable satellite resources at peak viewing times may not be cost effective. Less popular content may be broadcast by satellite at less popular viewing times, or may be available for downloading on demand via a broadband connection. Such content may be received and stored by a digital video recorder for later viewing.
A content delivery network is typically used to deliver content to the client device. The content delivery network may be controlled by a separate entity compared to the provider of the broadcast services. Typically, a publisher actively transfers data to the content delivery network as the content becomes available. This is known as data push or data pre-cache. Such a method is effective when using a single content delivery network (CDN). However, many systems for providing a relatively large amount of content use multiple content delivery networks that are controlled by different entities. Content delivery networks typically have their own data push mechanisms and interfaces that require the provider to implement specific propriety logic to store data at each content delivery network.